“Uh, girlie? Girlie! Hey, you with us? I was wondering if I could borrow your Draughts and Potions flashcards?”
I jerk to attention, offering Alyssa a guilty smile before passing the stack of flashcards over. I’m seated in the basement of the library at Cafe Ciel on a tall cafe stool, studying with my friends, Darika, Luca, Cassian and Simon, but all my thoughts have been about Marcus. I’m slowly cooling off after our fight. Part of me wants to cling to my anger and hurt a bit longer, to hold on to my convictions about his lies. Another part of me can’t forget the way he looked at me when he told me he loved me. I so want to believe him, that he lied so he could protect me, but would things truly have been different if he’d told me the truth about how he wasn’t immune to me?
I drum my pen on my notebook. I wouldn’t have trusted him with my heart so easily, wouldn’t have accepted his protection and care if I’d known. I might even have requested a new honor guard. I never would have carriedthis deep love for one of the best alphas I know. Saints, he makes it too easy to want to fall into his arms. What am I even resisting anymore?
“Earth to Junie,” Bitsy says, waving a hand in front of my eyes. “Damn, she’s really not here with us tonight.”
“I’m here, I’m here,” I say, throwing my hands up and cracking my textbook for Intermediate Casting open. In truth, I’m stuck in my thoughts, and not just about Marcus. Our study group has grown so much. It used to just be me and Luca studying on the bridge near the omega residences, and now I’m packed up and surrounded by friends. A pack I wouldn’t have if not for Marcus. Instead of letting me spend time with Luca, he could just as easily have forbidden it. I’d never have gotten to take off around Deer Island on the back of Luca’s bike. Luca would never have donned the Baphomet mask to spy for me. He never would have been pulled into Cassian’s lies and then unraveled them all before my very eyes, letting me see Cassian as the boy I once loved, now grown into a strong, caring alpha. I never would have let Cass touch me, let alone bite and mate me. Somehow, Marcus is inextricably woven into all my highs and lows since coming to Fairhaven. And all the moments in between.
“Oh saints, Bitsy,” Ellie says, pulling me from my thoughts once again. “You know Connor’s stance on streaking. And mine. And Jace’s.”
Bitsy waves her off. “Your stance changes after three drinks.”
“Want me to quiz you, Lys?” I ask, banishing further thoughts of Marcus from my head. Saints, I need to actually study if I plan on acing my finals.
“Oh, yes please!” she says, brushing her soft brown curls out of her eyes and handing me back the stack of flashcards.
We work together on memorizing every single sigil of the spells we could be tested on in Professor McNamara’s finaluntil my eyes feel bleary, and I definitely need another coffee if I’m going to keep studying.
I stand up from my stool and stretch, immediately feeling Marcus’ eyes tracking me as I cross the cafe’s seating area to the counter. I catch his eye and come to an abrupt halt. Saints, Marcus looksterrible. As though he hasn’t slept at all since our fight. I consider him for a moment as I go for my coffee. While I’ve had my pack to help deal with the gulf between us, Marcus has had no one to help him through. I sigh.
“And a black coffee, too, please,” I say to the barista.
When she hands me over the drinks, I drop by the table Marcus has been occupying, finding his book set aside for the moment.
Our eyes meet as I set his coffee down on the tall cafe table, and he hesitates, as though he wants to say something more than the “thank you” he finally says.
I give him a smile. A real one.
For the first time in a long time, I feel like we’ll find each other again across the chasm between us.
I’mon edge as I walk toward my first final of the semester: Intermediate Casting. I can’t help but remember the devastation that occurred as we sat our midterm exams. The greatest institution of our government was attacked by the Soldiers of Saint Aldous that day. Gerard was struck down by the Ever Ember hex and barely survived.
My scent sharpens as I recall the video Rad sent me. I try to put on a brave face when all I am is terrified. Terrified that something worse could happen during finals. Baphomet’s Prince had wanted to launch his armies by summer. Will we get a preview of that during finals? But no, there’s no reasonBaphomet’s Prince would do such a thing in line with something as petty as academy exams. He’s not Rad, my savage ex-betrothed, determined to ruin my time at the academy I love.
There won’t be an attack. Not today. Not this week. I haven’t had any visions suggesting such, though my vision during midterms came right as we began our exam. I suck in a shallow breath. Saints, please let me get through my finals without a vision.
Marcus stops me outside the classroom door, and I turn to him quickly.
My eyes widen. “What is it? A threat?”
“Not a threat,” he promises, slipping a bag of SweeTarts into my hand. “For luck.”
I squeeze his hand and stare up at him. This is his version of a black coffee during a late-night study session, his olive branch to help bridge the gap between us. “Thank you, Marcus.”
“You’re going to ace your exams. I know it.”
“Oh,” I say with a self-satisfied grin. “I know it too.”
I finishthe written part of Professor McNamara’s exam before anyone else and turn it in before heading out to the hall to wait for the practical portion of the exam. I’ll have three practical exams for my finals this semester, and I’d like to think I’m well prepared for them. I already know I got every answer right on the exam I just took.
Marcus follows me out, and I drift down the hallway a bit before taking a seat on the stone floor. Marcus sits beside me, so close our shoulders brush. Saints, I’m not even sure he intended for us to touch, but the touch makes my heart swoop. He’s warm and strong beside me and, for a moment, all I want to do is rest my head against his shoulder andbreathe in his wintry scent. But I can’t. Not yet. It’s too soon after our fight, and part of me is still hurting. I told him I needed time, and I tell myself the same thing as I fish my Applications of Magic flashcards out of my bag.
“Will you quiz me?”
He arches a brow and nudges me with his shoulder. “You know all the answers backward and forward already.”
“One last round before my final this afternoon couldn’t hurt.”
